Measurement of the flux and zenith-angle distribution of upward throughgoing muons by super-kamiokande

Y. Fukuda, T. Hayakawa, E. Ichihara, K. Inoue, K. Ishihara, H. Ishino, Y. Itow, T. Kajita, J. Kameda, S. Kasuga, K. Kobayashi, Y. Kobayashi, Y. Koshio, M. Miura, M. Nakahata, S. Nakayama, A. Okada, K. Okumura, N. Sakurai, M. ShiozawaY. Suzuki, Y. Takeuchi, Y. Totsuka, S. Yamada, M. Earl, A. Habig, E. Kearns, M. D. Messier, K. Scholberg, J. L. Stone, L. R. Sulak, C. W. Walter, M. Goldhaber, T. Barszczak, D. Casper, W. Gajewski, W. R. Kropp, L. R. Price, F. Reines, M. Smy, H. W. Sobel, M. R. Vagins, K. S. Ganezer, W. E. Keig, R. W. Ellsworth, S. Tasaka, J. W. Flanagan, A. Kibayashi, J. G. Learned, S. Matsuno, V. J. Stenger, D. Takemori, T. Ishii, J. Kanzaki, T. Kobayashi, S. Mine, K. Nakamura, K. Nishikawa, Y. Oyama, A. Sakai, M. Sakuda, O. Sasaki, S. Echigo, M. Kohama, A. T. Suzuki, T. J. Haines, E. Blaufuss, B. K. Kim, R. Sanford, R. Svoboda, M. L. Chen, J. A. Goodman, G. W. Sullivan, J. Hill, C. K. Jung, K. Martens, C. Mauger, C. McGrew, E. Sharkey, B. Viren, C. Yanagisawa, W. Doki, K. Miyano, H. Okazawa, C. Saji, M. Takahata, Y. Nagashima, M. Takita, T. Yamaguchi, M. Yoshida, S. B. Kim, M. Etoh, K. Fujita, A. Hasegawa, T. Hasegawa, S. Hatakeyama, T. Iwamoto, M. Koga, T. Maruyama, H. Ogawa, J. Shirai, A. Suzuki, F. Tsushima, M. Koshiba, M. Nemoto, K. Nishijima, T. Futagami, Y. Hayato, Y. Kanaya, K. Kaneyuki, Y. Watanabe, D. Kielczewska, R. A. Doyle, J. S. George, A. L. Stachyra, L. L. Wai, R. J. Wilkes, K. K. Young

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Abstract

A total of 614 upward throughgoing muons of minimum energy 1.6 GeV are observed by Super-Kamiokande during 537 detector live days. The measured muon flux is [1.74±0.07(stat)±0.02(sys)]×10-13cm-2s-1sr-1 compared to an expected flux of [1.97±0.44(theor)]×10-13cm-2s-1sr-1. The absolute measured flux is in agreement with the prediction within the errors. However, the zenith-angle dependence of the observed upward throughgoing muon flux does not agree with no-oscillation predictions. The observed distortion in shape is consistent with the vμ⟷vτ oscillation hypothesis with sin22θ> 0.4 and 1×10-3Δm2<1×10-1eV2 at 90% confidence level.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2644-2648
Number of pages5
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume82
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

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